Samuel Petto

Background

Samuel Petto was 24 years old when he pleaded guilty. He killed his flatmate, Arthur Rowlinson (also reported as Arthur Rawlinson), by stabbing him at a flat in Allison Street, Govanhill, on 14 March. Petto then attempted to hide the killing by burning Mr Rowlinson’s body.

A drunken argument between Petto and Mr Rawlinson began in the street and continued inside the flat. Petto believed money belonging to him had been stolen by Mr Rawlinson, who was living there temporarily following his release from prison.

The offence

Petto pleaded guilty to the culpable homicide of Arthur Rowlinson by stabbing him at a flat in Allison Street, Govanhill, on 14 March.

Petto murdered Myra Donnachie, described as an upstairs neighbour, after setting fire to his flat in Allison Street. The fire caused an explosion which wrecked the block of flats. Petto and two accomplices doused the ground-floor property in Allison Street with petrol before causing the explosion. The explosion caused a fireball and thick smoke that trapped Myra Donnachie in her third-floor home directly above the burning flat.

Investigation

The explosion and fire took place at a flat on the ground floor of the three-storey building in Allison Street in the Govanhill area. Families were evacuated from their homes and placed in temporary accommodation.

One resident, John Doyle, said he heard “an almighty explosion” at about 2120 GMT on Monday and described debris flying out from the ground-floor flat, flames shooting out, and the walls in the close being gone so that residents could “see right through the full flat.” Residents could not get out by the front door because of debris and exited through the back court. Mr Doyle said he was “stuck in there for an hour” and that he had difficulty breathing with his “eyes… streaming with water.” He spent the night at his sister’s flat not far from the scene and was concerned for fish he kept in his flat.

Gavin Colclough, who lived in the neighbouring close, also heard a “huge” explosion. He said: “The flames were so intense. The smoke was billowing up and people were screaming in the street… Then the electricity started flickering. It was your worst nightmare. We just grabbed the cat and ran.”

Inspector James Steele of Strathclyde Police described the fire as “raging” when they arrived and said the investigation would be carried out into the cause of the blaze, while firefighters were still working to make the building safe. Superintendent Stewart Daniels said: “It is still very early days and nothing can be ruled in or out at this stage. ”Until the cause of the incident is confirmed, we are treating the building as a potential crime scene.” Station Officer Ian Tonner of Strathclyde Fire Brigade described the fire as “serious and very fierce” and said: “We not only had a serious fire on our hands, we had a serious rescue situation.”

Two occupants were rescued by fire crews using a turntable ladder and three had to be carried from the property. Glasgow City Council said 50 people were evacuated from 40 flats. Building control examined the extent of the damage to decide whether these flats should stay up or not. Most of those evacuated spent the night with friends and family, with makeshift accommodation offered at Holyrood Sports Centre in Aitkenhead Road. The council housed 12 residents in a nearby hotel.

A spokesperson for gas company Transco said checks had found the gas main going into the building to be sound, but checks had not yet been carried out on service pipes inside the building. Strathclyde Police said they hoped to gain access to the flats on Wednesday morning to continue investigations.

Arrest

Samuel Petto admitted killing two people in a Glasgow tenement.

Trial

Samuel Petto pleaded guilty to the culpable homicide of Arthur Rowlinson by stabbing him at a flat in Allison Street, Govanhill, on 14 March. Petto pleaded guilty to the murder of Myra Donnachie.

Petto and two other men admitted murdering Ms Donnachie. The accomplices were Walter Thomson, 23, and Steven Telford, 18. Both admitted murdering Mrs Donnachie.

The prosecution accepted pleas of not guilty to attempting to murder six women and four men who were also residents of the flats, and to attempting to pervert justice by torching the flat in an attempt to conceal Rawlinson’s death. The prosecution withdrew the charge against two other men, James Mullan, 35, and James Mullen, 24, and they walked free after the charge against them of murdering Ms Donnachie was dropped. Charges against all five men of dealing in heroin and cocaine were also dropped. The full details of the incident were due to be given at the High Court in Glasgow when the hearing resumed.

Sentencing

On 22 October 2004, Samuel Petto was jailed for life. He would serve a minimum of 18 years for killing Arthur Rawlinson and murdering Myra Donachie, and Lord Bracadale ordered that he serve at least 18 years before being allowed to apply for release on parole.

Passing sentence, Lord Bracadale told Petto:

“You pleaded guilty to the murder of a completely innocent woman. It was committed in the course of an utterly reckless and hopeless scheme to destroy the body of a man you had earlier killed.
It caused a large explosion which devastated the building and killed Mrs Donachie.
This was a course of conduct which can only be described as one of great wickedness.”

Donald Findlay QC, defending Petto, said the “utter folly” of the whole affair was that no one stopped to think for a moment about the consequences of the fire and claimed Petto had no intention to cause harm to anyone else.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that Petto had set fire to his flat in Allison Street in a failed attempt to cover up Mr Rawlinson’s death. Petto’s two accomplices were also jailed for life. Thomson was ordered to serve at least 12 years and Telford at least 10 years.

In a separate sentencing account, the judge ordered that Petto serve at least 18 years before parole and also sentenced him to ten years for the culpable homicide of Mr Rawlinson.

Outcome

Samuel Petto was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Arthur Rawlinson and murdering Myra Donachie. Petto’s accomplices, Walter Thomson and Steven Telford, were also jailed for life for murdering Mrs Donnachie.

James Mullan and James Mullen walked free after the Crown withdrew the charge against them of murdering Ms Donnachie.

Charges for dealing in heroin and cocaine were dropped for all five men.

Aftermath

The explosion caused injuries to seven people and killed two people. Myra Donnachie was pronounced dead the next day after she was taken to the city’s Victoria Infirmary.

Mrs Donnachie’s son, Stephen, said outside court that he felt that justice had been done and he recalled the last time he saw her the night before the blast on Mothers’ Day. He said his mother had been looking forward to the birth of her second grandchild, born a fortnight after the explosion.

Mr Donnachie, whose sister Yvonne was seriously injured in the blast, said:

“It’s been a tragic loss for our family. No one could have said a bad word about my mother or my sister.
It was like someone had hit me with a baseball bat when they said, ‘You haven’t got a ma anymore’.”

The court heard that an hour before the explosion, Telford was captured on CCTV buying three petrol canisters from a nearby garage. Petto, who had previous convictions for assault and attempted robbery, was blown out into the street by the force of the blast.